Me Vs. Denise (and Denise’s) Creator, Round…I Forget
Denise, in case you’re coming in late, is the non-human AI DJ that’s being used at a station in Texas in place of a real live radio announcer. I’ve been railing against this move for the last couple of weeks while Denise’s creator has been offering counterpoints to my objections and outrage.
Meanwhile, the radio industry has picked up on the story. This appeared in consultant Fred Jacobs newsletter today.
“This crazy controversy about Denise, the artificial intelligence “DJ” being tested at KROV radio just took an interesting turn.
“Alan Cross took on Denise in a recent blog. A couple of days later, we opined in this space about how seminal personalities can have great impact on local communities. WCSX’s Steve Kostan, recently inducted in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, was our poster boy for personality radio done right.
“Then last Friday, Denise’s Dr. Frankenstein, Dominique Garcia, responded to Alan’s blog. Garcia took a more defensive approach, and I’ve taken the liberty of lifting out a couple paragraphs from his response to Cross:
Wow. I just gave a listen to Denise by watching the video that's embedded in the the <B>Fred Jacobs</B> newsletter article. It's positively unlistenable.
I just tried to listen to her for a bit….there's no way I could listen to her on a regular basis.
She sounds like something from Blade Runner. I hope she malfunctions on the air — there won't be anyone around to cover for it.